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A (somewhat) impossible task
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05/18/2011
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"Could you write something about your experience in the Middle East
this semester?\uc1\u8221?
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I stare blankly at the email on the screen in front of me, before
writing \uc1\u8220?I\uc1\u8217?d love to\uc1\u8221? and hitting send.
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Almost immediately I begin to question what exactly I\uc1\u8217?ve
gotten myself into. Write something? I could (and am currently) writing
10\_page papers on my experiences of one week, let alone my entire
semester. What do I write about? How do I condense everything I\uc1\u8217?ve
seen, heard, and experienced without cheapening any of it?Multi\_family
dwellings like those in this Israeli settlement are common sights
for students on the Middle East Studies Program. \'46ollowing their
early departure from Cairo after the January 25th Revolution, CCCU
(Council of Christian Colleges and Universities) students are spending
more of their semester in other Middle Eastern countries.
\par}
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Should I write about my group, 28 students from Christian colleges
across the U.S. forced together under what can only be described as
\uc1\u8220?unusual circumstances\uc1\u8221?? None of us really knew
what we were getting into when we stepped onto that flight destined
for Cairo, but every one of us is unquestionably glad we came.
\par}
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Maybe I should write about Egypt, a country that has been waiting
decades for the basic rights the people deserve. The 18\_day process
that led to President Hosni Mubarak\uc1\u8217?s resignation is being
called the \uc1\u8220?January 25th Revolution\uc1\u8221?; to be able
to say that I was in Cairo, on the edge of Tahrir Square, on January
25, is something I will cherish for a long time. After seeing thousands
of protesters, walls of riot police, and feeling the burning sensation
of tear gas, the quiet cornfields of Iowa seem like something from
a distant dream.
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Yet the revolution did not solely define my experience in Egypt, so
perhaps I should write about what I will remember most: the people.
How can I forget the pious Muslim taxi\_driver who returned my lost
wallet with every dollar and piece of ID untouched. Or the manager
at the local internet cafe, who, although knowing only half the English
words that us North Americans knew, was twice as funny. Time and time
again, my preconceptions and misconceptions about Middle Eastern people
were smashed in the most beautiful of ways. As I saw ordinary people
of every creed and color take to the streets in protest, I felt an
unmistakable bond with a country that had been my place of residence
for all of three weeks.
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Maybe I should talk about the culture shock I experienced after being
relocated to Istanbul, Turkey. Unlike Egypt, the cold secularism left
over from Kemal Atat\'fcrk\uc1\u8217?s legacy means religion is increasingly
confined to the private sphere. Turkey is trying so desperately to
be like the West, to be like us, but in doing so, they seem to be
forfeiting a part of their country\uc1\u8217?s soul.
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Maybe I could write about Israel, or Palestine, or the dividing wall
between the two that I can see from my bedroom window.\~ Perhaps I
should describe what it\uc1\u8217?s like to realize some questions
may never have answers, some problems may never be solved. With each
book, with each speaker, with each new opinion and argument things
seem more complicated than before, and the people you condemn after
one moving speech may be the same people you\uc1\u8217?re rooting
for after another.
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I wish I could write about everything, about subway rides and Turkish
coffee in the park, about going on late\_night falafel runs and waking
up to the call to prayer. I wish I could write about the hypocrisy
of U.S. policy, of authoritarian regimes and the protesters who stand
up to them without a particular ideology or religion driving their
actions. \'46rom riot police to Palestinian school kids, my experiences
in the Middle East have been as diverse and resistant to generalization
as the region itself.
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Then again, if all else fails, I could just write about how hard it
is for me to choose something to write about. But no, that would be
cheap.
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\qc\ul\f1\fs20\nocheck\lang1024 \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~
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ADRIAN HIELEMA
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